JP2012096269A - Sealing machine of vacuum laser welding - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sealing machine of vacuum laser welding, which can reliably weld and seal a metal foil by a laser beam when manufacturing a vacuum heat insulating material.SOLUTION: The sealing machine of vacuum laser welding includes: a body (10) having a chamber lower part (2), a chamber lid (1) having a light-transmitting window (6), which forms sealed space (8) by engaging with the chamber lower part and is openable/closable, a support arranged so that a material to be sealed is wrapped by a metal sheathing material in the space, and a pressing mechanism (16) for closely contacting the metal sheathing materials with each other in the space; an evacuating apparatus arranged on an outer part of the body part, which evacuates the space by exhausting air in the space; and laser welding mechanisms (31-33) arranged on the outer part of the body part, which weld and seal the closely contacted metal sheathing material by irradiating the metal sheathing material with the laser through the light-transmitting window.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum laser welding sealing machine that vacuum seals a sealed object such as a vacuum heat insulating material or a battery by laser welding.

  The vacuum heat insulating material is manufactured by wrapping a core material such as glass wool with a jacket material having a gas barrier property, and reducing the pressure inside the chamber to form a vacuum state and sealing the jacket material. Further, when the article is vacuum-sealed, a vacuum chamber is used as a chamber for sealing, and a resin-based adhesive is usually used for bonding the sealing portion of the jacket material.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a method and apparatus for performing welding and sealing with a laser beam irradiated from a transparent window in a vacuum vessel using a metal as an outer cover material.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-90060

  However, in the manufacture of the vacuum heat insulating material, it is necessary to sufficiently dry the core material and the jacket material before putting them into the vacuum packaging machine, which requires a long time for drying. Further, the oxygen transmission rate when a resin adhesive is used as a sealing sealant is not 0%.

  The sealing method of sealing the metal jacket material described in Patent Document 1 by laser welding is effective in this respect, but seals a large sealed object such as a vacuum heat insulating material with a thin metal foil. In order to do this, it is necessary to fix the two metal foils flat for a long distance and to adhere to the object to be sealed.

  Then, this invention is made | formed in view of such a subject, and provides the vacuum laser welding sealing machine which can perform reliably metal foil welding sealing by the laser beam at the time of vacuum heat insulating material manufacture. Objective.

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention,
A chamber lower part, a chamber lid that engages with the chamber lower part to form a sealed space, can be opened and closed, and has a light transmission window; A main body having a support placed in a rare state, and a pressing mechanism for bringing the metal jacket materials into close contact with each other;
A vacuuming device that is provided outside the main body and evacuates the space to create a vacuum;
A laser welding mechanism that is provided outside the main body, and welds and seals the metal jacket material by irradiating the metal jacket material with the laser through the light transmission window; and
A vacuum laser welding sealing machine is provided.

  The pressing mechanism is preferably a mechanism in which the pressing member slides so as to extend the metal jacket material to both sides around the welding position so that the metal jacket material is brought into close contact with the pressing mechanism.

  The laser welding mechanism may include a moving mechanism that translates the laser irradiation head along the light transmission window.

  In the vacuum laser welding sealing machine according to the present invention, a support body for placing an object to be sealed in a state of being wrapped in a metal jacket material, a pressing mechanism for closely contacting the metal jacket materials, and a heater are provided in a chamber. By providing a vacuuming device and a laser welding mechanism outside the chamber, a series of operations of drying, evacuation, and sealing can be performed with a single device, enabling efficient sealing work. Become. In particular, since non-contact welding sealing in a vacuum using a laser becomes possible, a product capable of maintaining a very low oxygen transmission rate over a long period of time can be manufactured.

  The pressing mechanism is a mechanism in which the pressing member slides so as to extend the metal jacket material to both sides centering on the welding position so that the metal jacket material is brought into close contact with the pressing member. The slack can be removed, and the metal jacket materials can be securely adhered to each other.

  By providing a moving mechanism that translates the laser irradiation head along the light transmission window, continuous seam welding is possible, and sealing performance is improved.

It is a schematic plan view which shows one Example of the vacuum laser welding sealing machine concerning this invention. It is sectional drawing seen from the right side surface of FIG. It is sectional drawing seen from the front of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that a laser beam moves for welding sealing. FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a jacket material pressing jig portion of FIG. 1. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the jacket material pressing jig part of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

  1 is a schematic plan view for explaining an embodiment of a vacuum laser welding sealing machine according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view seen from the right side of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is seen from the front of FIG. It is sectional drawing.

  The vacuum laser welding sealing machine has a bottom plate 2 that forms a lower portion of the chamber, and a chamber lid 1 in which a front end portion of each side is mounted on the entire peripheral portion of the bottom plate to form a chamber 8 that is a space. ing. An O-ring is interposed in the contact portion between the bottom plate and the chamber lid, and an opening / closing mechanism (not shown) that closes or opens the bottom plate and the chamber lid while applying pressure is provided. The chamber lid 2 has confidentiality due to the chamber lid 2, and the chamber lid 1 can be opened by an opening / closing mechanism in the case of replacement of a sealing object or the like.

  A part of the bottom plate 2 is provided with a hole 9 (represented by a wavy line) for connection to a vacuum pump (not shown) provided outside, to which a hose from the vacuum pump is connected, A chamber having confidentiality by being driven and evacuated becomes a high vacuum chamber having a vacuum degree of 1 Pa or less.

  Furthermore, a heater (not shown) for heat drying and vacuum drying is provided in the chamber 8 for shortening the drying process, achieving high heat insulation by higher vacuum sealing, and maintaining quality. The inside of the chamber can be heated to 200 ° C. while maintaining a vacuum. This heater can take various forms such as an insulating sheathed heater embedded in the bottom plate 2 and a film heater attached to the inner wall of the chamber lid 1. Thermal drying is performed in a temperature range where the boiling point of moisture is not reached by this heating, and vacuum drying is performed in parallel with evacuation when the boiling point is reached.

  As long as there is no adverse effect on the object to be sealed, the higher the heating temperature, the better the drying efficiency.

  On the other hand, a transmission window 6 is opened in the chamber lid 1 at a position corresponding to the welding position of the jacket material arranged in the chamber 8, and the laser light transmission glass 5 is placed inside the chamber lid 1 corresponding to this position. Is provided. In the case of the embodiment of FIG. 1, it is formed linearly on one side of a vacuum laser welding sealing machine so that a jacket material such as a long heat insulating material can be seam welded.

  This transmission window can be provided at a plurality of locations depending on the object to be welded.

  Laser light emitted from a laser welder provided outside the chamber 8 is irradiated perpendicularly to the transmission window 6, but is moved along the transmission window as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. On the chamber lid 1, a robot mechanism 30 comprising a moving member 32 that slides in the horizontal direction by engaging with a rail 31 parallel to the transmission window is provided, and a laser irradiation head 33 attached to the moving member 32 is moved. I try to let them.

  Next, a mechanism for handling an object to be welded will be described with reference to FIGS.

  Inside the chamber 8, a surface plate 4, a sealing table 3, and a pressing jig 16 are provided.

  On the other hand, on the upper surface of the chamber lid 1 outside the chamber 8, air cylinders 11 are provided on both sides of the center of the irradiation window so as to be perpendicular to the chamber lid 1. A connecting bar 13 is attached. The connecting bar 13 has a symmetrical length with respect to the cylinder mounting portion, and slide shafts 14 are parallel to the cylinder rod of the air cylinder 11 at both ends, that is, with respect to the upper surface of the chamber lid 1. It is arranged vertically. These slide shafts 14 are respectively guided by linear bearings 12 that pass through the chamber lid 1 and are attached to the chamber lid 1. A portion 12a having a large diameter on the chamber lid 1 of the linear bearing 12 is a flange for stably mounting the linear bearing 12 on the chamber lid.

  A bracket 15 is attached to the tip of the slide shaft 14 in the chamber 8 that penetrates the chamber lid 1. A holding jig 16 is fixed to the bracket 15 at a substantially right angle to the bracket 15, and the fixing portion of both is fixed around the shaft 17 by a shaft 17 provided in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the transmission window. Rotate.

  Next, the operation of this vacuum laser welding sealing machine will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the jacket material 20 is placed on the surface plate 4 as a support for the object to be sealed, and the article 21 to be sealed is placed thereon. Further, another outer covering material 20 is placed thereon. Here, when the object to be sealed is, for example, a vacuum heat insulating material, a stainless steel material SUS304 having a thickness of 50 μ to 80 μm is representative as the jacket material 20, but other various environmentally-resistant materials are also available. The material can be used.

  By using a metal foil, especially stainless steel SUS304, as the jacket material, it becomes possible to weld a material with a thickness of 50 μm with a pinpoint of a minimum of 1 mm on the welding surface, and to keep oxygen transmission rate 0% for a long time. it can.

  In addition, in the case of a vacuum heat insulating material, the object to be sealed 21 is preferably a porous material such as glass fiber or ceramic powder.

  In order to manufacture the vacuum heat insulating material, it is necessary that both the object to be sealed and the outer covering material are sufficiently dried. Therefore, the chamber lid 1 is closed and evacuation is performed so that the degree of vacuum is 1 Pa or less. Thus, heating at 200 ° C. is performed. Thereby, since the vacuum drying at a high vacuum degree and the high temperature drying are simultaneously performed in the chamber 8, the drying process is completed in a short time.

  When the drying and evacuation processes are completed, the jacket material 20 placed on the sealing table 3 is fixed by the holding jig 16, the laser is guided from the laser welding machine to the welding location through the laser transmitting glass, and installed on the sealing table 3. The outer covering material 20 is irradiated and welded.

  The operation of the holding jig 16 will be described with reference to FIG. 6 which is a detailed view of the sealing table 3 and the jacket material pressing portion.

  In the operation of the jacket material pressing mechanism, when the cylinder rod of the air cylinder 11 contracts, the attached connecting bar 13, slide shaft 14, and bracket 15 are lowered. The holding jig 16 is suspended by a shaft 17 and can freely rotate about the shaft 17.

  The holding jig 16 is provided with a protrusion 16a at the rear end portion which is the direction opposite to the welding position of the jacket material holding surface (lower surface). When the pressing jig 16 is lowered, the outer cover material on the seal table 3 is pressed by the protrusion 16a at the rear end portion of the pressing jig 16 as indicated by a broken line. At this time, the tip end portion 16b is floating and does not hold the jacket material 20. When the bracket 15 is further lowered, the shaft 17 cannot move to the left and right. Therefore, the holding jig 16 rotates about the shaft 17, and as shown by a solid line, the rear end portion 16 a moves rearward, and the front end portion 16 b The jacket material 20 can be held down.

  As described above, the holding jig 16 moves rearward while holding the jacket material 20 at the rear end portion, so that the jacket material 20 is pulled outward from the welding position, and wrinkles and sagging can be eliminated. At the same time, it can be reliably pressed by the tip of the pressing jig, and the two outer jacket materials 20 can be brought into close contact with each other.

  By using this vacuum laser welding sealing machine, it is possible to weld a material having a thickness of 50 μm with a pinpoint of a minimum welding surface of 1 mm by using SUS304 as a jacket material.

  Then, by using a metal foil as the jacket material of the vacuum heat insulating material and sealing the metal foil by direct laser welding, the oxygen transmission rate of 0% can be maintained for many years.

  In the above embodiment, only one side of the jacket material is sealed, but normally the opposite side also needs to be sealed, so the chamber lid is once opened and the welding position on the opposite side is set and the same Sealing is performed by performing the method. In addition, what is necessary is just to repeat the same process twice further when sealing over the perimeter.

It should be noted that instead of placing the object to be sealed between two metal foils, it is wrapped in one large metal foil, or is formed in a bag shape by welding three sides of two metal foils in advance. An object to be sealed can be put in and the remaining one side can be sealed by welding with a vacuum laser welding sealing machine according to the present invention.
In the above embodiment, the air cylinder 11 is used as the driving means for operating the holding jig. However, the present invention is not limited to the air cylinder, and any type that reciprocates such as a hydraulic device or an electromagnetic actuator can be used. Anything can be used.

  Further, the pressing mechanism is not limited to the mechanism shown in the embodiment, and may be of any configuration as long as it can simultaneously press the outer cover material and pull outwards. For example, this embodiment In addition to the one bracket having both functions, the pressing member and the pulling member may be separate members.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Chamber lid 2 Lower case 3 Seal stand 4 Surface plate 5 Transmission glass 6 Transmission window 7 O-ring 8 Chamber 9 Hole 10 Main body 11 Air cylinder 12 Slide bearing 12a Flange 13 Connection bar 14 Slide shaft 15 Bracket 16 Holding jig 17 Shaft 20 Cover material 21 Sealed object 30 Robot 31 Rail 32 Moving member 33 Laser irradiation head

Claims (4)

A chamber lower part, a chamber lid that engages with the chamber lower part to form a sealed space, can be opened and closed, and has a light transmission window; A main body having a support placed in a rare state, and a pressing mechanism for bringing the metal jacket materials into close contact with each other;
A vacuuming device that is provided outside the main body and evacuates the space to create a vacuum;
A laser welding mechanism that is provided outside the main body, and welds and seals the metal jacket material by irradiating the metal jacket material with the laser through the light transmission window; and
Vacuum laser welding sealing machine equipped with.   The presser mechanism is a mechanism in which a presser member slides so as to extend the metal jacket material to both sides around a welding position so that the metal jacket material is brought into close contact with the presser at the same time. The vacuum laser welding sealing machine according to 1.   The vacuum laser welding sealing machine according to claim 2, wherein two sets of the pressing mechanisms are provided on both sides with respect to the center line of the light transmission window.   The vacuum laser welding sealing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the laser welding mechanism includes a moving mechanism that translates a laser irradiation head along the light transmission window.

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